Tears Flow More Freely In Today's Oscar Speeches

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Count the tears from winning actresses and actors at this year's
Academy Awards. Chances are, you'll see more than in years past.

That's because crying is up in Oscar acceptance
speeches, according to a new analysis of more than 50 years of
Academy Award clips. In fact, 71 percent of Oscar tears have been
shed since 1995.

"Maybe the public has come to expect an emotional speech," study
researcher Rebecca Rolfe, a master's student in digital media at
Georgia Tech University, said in a statement.

Oscar speech trends

Rolfe watched 207 speeches from winning lead actors and
actresses, supporting actors and actresses and directors dating
from 1953 to 2012. She found some surprises — the cofounder of
Miramax has been thanked 12 times in Oscar history, compared with
only 11 thank-yous to God — as well as some trends that aren't
likely to shock. For example, acceptance speeches have stretched
from 40 seconds on average in the 1960s to almost two minutes
today. [ Glitzy
Oscar Facts (Infographic) ]

Rolfe's larger research project is about
gratitude, and she found that 79 percent of speeches closed
with some variation of "thank you." The most common pattern is to
broadly thank the Academy, which bestows the awards, and other
nominees first and then to become more personal.

"After reflecting on the win's significance, they typically thank
their peers, colleagues and sometimes even their lawyer before
mentioning family," Rolfe said.

Though "I'd like to thank the Academy" is a stereotypical speech
start-off, only 40 percent of winners have uttered those words.

Turning on the tears

Actresses cry about twice as often as actors, with 12 of the last
15 best actresses turning on the waterworks, Rolfe found. It's
not clear why tears are becoming more common, but Rolfe
speculates social
pressure on celebrities might contribute.

"Much like the movies, acceptance speeches are a type of
performance," she said. "I believe the tears are real, but
perhaps, maybe even subconsciously, actresses know what is
expected of them when they accept the honor."

The only director ever to cry during a speech was Steven
Spielberg, accepting an Oscar for "Schindler's List" in 1993.

Rolfe has created an interactive website where you can
write your own speech and compare it with Oscar winners past.
The ultimate goal, she said, is to understand public gratitude.

"In a way, we see a part of ourselves on stage at the Oscars,"
Rolfe said. "While judging speeches each year, we shape the
trends and customs society expects and accepts."